The Press Box.

Alabama Drops Star Lineman Over Contact With Agents

Star defensive lineman Michael Myers was dropped from the Alabama team Wednesday after an internal investigation found he had made improper contact with sports agents.

Marie Robbins, who oversees the university's compliance with NCAA rules, said her two-week investigation concluded that Myers had accepted hotel expenses from an agent during a trip to California and cash benefits from a second agent.

But Myers' father denied his son had accepted anything from an agent during the trip.

"My older son paid his way out there," Herman Myers said in a telephone interview from his home in Vicksburg, Miss.

In an interview with WERC in Birmingham, Michael Myers said he was surprised when told of his dismissal. He was not directly asked whether or not he took the money.

The 6-foot-3, 270-pound lineman earned All-Southeastern Conference honors last season and is considered a possible first-round NFL draft choice.

He played the opener against Houston but was suspended after Alabama opened its probe.

- Heather Sue Mercer has filed a sex-discrimination suit against Duke for not allowing her to be the team's placekicker. Coach Fred Goldsmith refused to respond to the allegations and the school called the suit "frivolous."